节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-05-10
难易度:High
关键字:mainstream, nomination, wholeheartedly, supportive, indie
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
And thank you for joining us for the third day of our lesson learning all about
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Just a RegularJOE.
Well, I've had a lot of fun learning about this actor's past and what has made
him successful.
It's interesting to learn about someone's background.
Carolyn, what's one thing that we learned about Joseph Gordon-Levitt?
Well, the first day we were talking about his family.
And his grandfather was also involved a lot in film.
And he had started out doing films in California, and then later moved to New
York.
And we talked about how this resilience in his career may have had an influence
on Joseph Gordon-Levitt's career as well.
That's right.
So maybe it's in the family.
We talked about maybe it's vision or maybe it's creativity.
Of course, Joseph Gordon-Levitt had a lot of changes in his life.
He had to reinvent himself while he was in New York.
And he also founded hitRECord, that collaborative production company where you
can send in your records, other people can remix them.
It all sounds very creative.
Or... or maybe it's passion.
Let's get started with our first reading of the day.
Let's do that now: Maybe it's passion.
(Music).
Just a RegularJOE.
Or maybe it's passion.
Though still involved in hitRECord and indie cinema, Gordon-Levitt has also
found his way into mainstream Hollywood.
Keeping one foot in the independent realm, his performances in smaller films
like (500) Days of Summer have earned him award nominations.
Otherwise, he jumps wholeheartedly into big studio productions like last year's
The Dark Knight Rises and Lincoln.
But why all the activity?
"I love acting, I love making movies, and that's why I do it.
This is a job which I try to get involved with as much as I can." And seeing
that he has written, directed, and starred in his current project,
no one can accuse him of limited involvement.
(Music).
He does seem to be very passionate about what he does with his career.
And we see here "Or maybe it's passion" at the very beginning.
But before we get too far into it, we need to go see Steve and Ken in the
Information Cloud.
If you're looking for an English idiom to describe something that comes easily
to you like fame is to Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
just remember two things: dessert and simple exercise.
Right.
Let's start with the dessert: easy as pie.
And by that, we mean "eating pie," since making pies requires time, effort and
some expertise.
For me, there are few things easier than eating a piece of pie.
Hmm... not even eating a piece of cake?
Of course, "piece of cake" is one of the more familiar idioms that suggests
something took little or no effort.
OK. So that's the dessert.
Now here's the simple exercise section: a walk in the park.
It's another creative way to express: That was easy.
Good one, Ken.
Now let's combine the dessert and the simple exercise themes for our last
"that's easy" idiom: cakewalk.
"Cakewalk" has an interesting origin.
It comes out of 19th century America, and was a form of public entertainment for
African Americans.
It was something like a dance contest.
That's right, Ken.
The person or couple who had the fanciest or most entertaining footwork actually
won a big cake as a prize.
(Chinese).
Don't worry.
It will be a walk in the park.
(Chinese).
Thanks, guys.
Steve and Ken, you make teaching seem like a piece of cake.
Well, we're continuing to learn about Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
The... the heading here is Maybe it's passion, so.
Though still involved in hitRECord and indie cinema, Gordon-Levitt has also
found his way into mainstream Hollywood.
Wait a minute.
Let's take a look at some words there: indie cinema.
That is independent films.
Indie, I-N-D-I-E, is short for independent cinema or films.
But tell us about that word "mainstream," Carolyn.
Well, it's kind of the opposite of an indie film.
If it is mainstream, that means it is common, it is popular, and everyone pretty
much knows about it.
Independent films are usually smaller and less well-known.
That's right.
And maybe there aren't very many major funds going into independent films.
But of course mainstream Hollywood, those are the big production companies that
everyone knows about.
You also might talk about mainstream music or independent music.
Mainstream, of course, is the music that most everybody knows about or has
heard.
Well, how do we continue this lesson?
Well, we see: Keeping one foot in the independent realm, his performances in
smaller films like (500) Days of Summer have earned him award nominations.
So he has been participating and acting in smaller films as well as larger
mainstream films.
That's right.
This sentence begins "Keeping one foot in the independent realm." So that's a
fun way of saying you still have a part in this area of life.
You keep one foot in this realm, and put your other foot in the other place.
You can keep one foot somewhere, and do something else.
Well, we see a word here.
It is "nomination." Let's take a look at that word.
If you have a nomination for something, that means someone thought you did a
great job,
and they wanted to suggest your name for a prize or something - a nomination.
That's right.
And you can be nominated for many different things.
Perhaps you are competing in a science fair.
You might be nominated to represent your school in the national science fair.
So you get to compete against even more difficult or more advanced teams.
That's right.
So if you are nominated, that doesn't necessarily mean you are chosen.
But it means that enough people thought you were good enough, and they think
that you can do a good job.
Well, we continue learning about Gordon-Levitt.
Otherwise, he jumps wholeheartedly into big studio productions like last year's
The Dark Knight Rises and Lincoln.
So he likes to keep his foot in the independent realm, but he also likes to jump
wholeheartedly into whatever he does.
Tell us about that word, Carolyn.
Well, if you do something wholeheartedly, then you do it completely.
You want to do that the most, and that is where you spend all of your energy.
Maybe you know someone who volunteers wholeheartedly.
They put everything they have and all of their energy into the work they're
trying to do to help others.
So you can do something wholeheartedly.
Or maybe you have a halfhearted effort.
You're doing it, but maybe only because someone else wants you to do it, or only
because you need to make money.
You kind of do a halfhearted job.
You're doing it halfheartedly.
Of course, it's good to do things wholeheartedly.
What do you do wholeheartedly?
Well, continuing we see: But why all the activity?
It does sound like he's very busy if he did two major movies last year.
But what does he say, Gabe?
"I love acting, I love making movies, and that's why I do it." Well, that's
simple enough.
He loves what he does.
That is an important thing.
And we continue: This is a job which I try to get involved with as much as I
can.
So he doesn't want to simply take a role here, be in a movie there.
He wants to be an... as involved as possible.
That's right.
And seeing that he has written, directed and starred in his current project, no
one can accuse him of limited involvement.
All right.
Well, let's take a look at a phrase there: seeing that he has done this.
That really means since he has done this or because he has done this.
You could use that phrase in another way.
You could say: Well, seeing that everyone is here early, let's... let's get
started early.
Let's not wait till the class starts.
Let's get started early.
That's right.
You might also say:
Well, seeing that your English is so good, would you mind helping me translate
something?
Hmm, good question.
Maybe someone will say that about you, too.
Well, we have been learning a lot about Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and no one can
accuse him of limited involvement.
He likes to do lots of different kinds of things.
Let's take a look at what the Language Lab has for us today.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.